Roger Federer starts his bid for a 100th career singles title when he plays Kei Nishikori on the opening day of the ATP Finals in London.

The 37-year-old Swiss, aiming for a record-extending seventh title at the season-ending event, meets Japan’s Nishikori in Sunday’s evening session.

Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson takes on French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem in the afternoon session.

World number one Novak Djokovic, who is in the other group, plays on Monday.

The 31-year-old Serb opens his campaign against American John Isner in Monday’s evening session, following the afternoon match between Germany’s world number four Alexander Zverev and Croatia’s Marin Cilic.

Jamie Murray is the only Briton competing in the event, seeded fourth with Brazilian Bruno Soares in the doubles.

The pair open the event at 12:00 GMT on Sunday when they face sixth seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus.

BBC Sport will have comprehensive, live coverage of the tournament across television, radio and online – starting with Federer’s opening match, which you can follow on BBC Four, BBC Radio 5 live and the BBC Sport website at 20:00 GMT on Sunday.

The contenders

Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

World ranking: 1

2018 highlights: Winning Wimbledon and US Open titles, returning to world number one.

Kevin Anderson (South Africa)

World ranking: 6

2018 highlights: Reaching Wimbledon final after epic semi-final win against Isner, climbing to career-high fifth in the world.

Previous ATP Finals appearances: Debut

What he says: “Reaching the tour finals for the first time was one of my primary goals this year. I feel I’ve been playing great tennis and if I keep going then can have a chance of a successful result.”

Dominic Thiem (Austria)

World ranking: 8

2018 highlights: Reaching first Grand Slam final at the French Open, also finishing runner-up in Madrid.

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Who’s missing?

For the fourth time in seven years, Rafael Nadal will not be playing.

The French Open champion finished second in the Race to London rankings, but pulled out of the event earlier this week after having surgery on an ankle injury.

World number four Juan Martin del Potro was also forced to withdraw with the right knee injury he sustained in Shanghai last month.

Britain’s Andy Murray and defending champion Grigor Dimitrov are other star names that will be missing.

Murray, who won the event in 2016, remains in the early stages of his comeback following hip surgery, while Bulgaria’s Dimitrov did not qualify after a poor second half of the season.

How does the tournament work?

The finals are the culmination of the ATP season and the singles title is contested by the eight players who have accumulated the most ranking points from 52 tournaments – including the four Grand Slams – over the year.

The eight singles players are seeded in terms of points accrued and split into two groups of four.

The groups are played in a round-robin format over the course of the week, with the top two players in each qualifying for the semi-finals on Saturday, 17 November.